GEORGE HODGMAN is a veteran magazine and book editor who has worked at Simon & Schuster, Vanity Fair, and Talk magazine. His writing has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Interview, W, and Harper's Bazaar, among other publications. He lives in New York City and Paris, Missouri.
Nautilus Book Awards Gold Winner Praise for Bettyville "A
remarkable, laugh-out-loud book . . . Rarely has the subject of
elder care produced such droll human comedy, or a heroine quite on
the mettlesome order of Betty Baker Hodgman. For as much as the
book works on several levels (as a meditation on belonging, as a
story of growing up gay and the psychic cost of silence, as
metaphor for recovery), it is the strong-willed Betty who shines
through."
--The New York Times "A lovely memoir . . .You won't finish this
tale dry-eyed."
--People, Book of the Week "A gorgeously constructed memoir . . .
Hodgman creates an unforgettable portrait of his mother, Betty--a
strong-willed nonagenarian struggling against the slow-motion
breakdown of her mind and body. He evokes her with wit and
tenderness."
--The New York Times Book Review "Without a doubt my favorite book
of the year. Wise, witty, and heartbreaking . . . a surprisingly
profound and hilarious look at aging, mothers and sons, fathers and
sons, growing up gay and small-town life in America."
--Nathan Lane, "Who Read What: Books of the Year 2015," The Wall
Street Journal "A humorous, bittersweet account of Hodgman's caring
for his aging, irascible mother."
--Vanity Fair "Hodgman has written what will be seen, even years
from now, as the quintessential book on taking care. . . . His
desire to empathize, his focus on goodness, his search for hope
allow him to find the beauty in the hour of now."
--Chicago Tribune "An intimate, heartfelt portrait of a mother and
son, each at the crossroads of life . . . Hodgman's sharp wit
carries the book ever forward."
--Minneapolis Star-Tribune "A superb memoir . . . Hodgman is by
turns wry, laugh-out-loud funny, self-deprecating, insecure to the
point of near suicide, and an attentive caregiver despite
occasional, understandable resentments. . . . I have read several
hundred American memoirs; I would place Bettyville in the top
five."
--Steve Weinberg, Kansas City Star "In his tender, sardonic, and
fearless account of life with Betty--who has never acknowledged
that her son is gay--Hodgman delivers an epic unfolding of his
lifelong search for acceptance and love."
--The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Hodgman paints a witty and
poignant portrait of a son and his mother reconciling their
differences and learning, among other things, how to cook, come to
grips with caretaking, understand unspoken sexuality, and treat
each other with patience, love, and self-respect. Surely we all
have a beautifully complex and hilarious (if not
semi-dysfunctional) relationships with our mothers, but none of us
are likely to commemorate it with the skill and humor of
Hodgman."
--Los Angeles Magazine "An exquisitely written memoir about the
complicated but deeply genuine love a son feels for his courageous,
headstrong, vulnerable mother in the twilight of her life. George
Hodgman is stunningly clear-eyed and yet so darned big-hearted.
Bettyville is just wonderful."
--Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle "The idea of a
cultured gay man leaving New York City to care for his aging mother
in Paris, Missouri, is already funny, and George Hodgman reaps that
humor with great charm. But then he plunges deep, examining the
warm yet fraught relationship between mother and son with profound
insight and understanding. This book looks outside, too, offering a
moving lament for small-town America. Hodgman tenderly evokes the
time before family farms and small businesses were replaced by meth
labs and Walmarts. Yet he's not sentimental about that lost
world--he knew its cruelties firsthand. As George and his mother
come to terms with one another at the end of her days, the book
begins to shimmer with something much more rare than love: a
boundless, transcendent, and simple kindness. Bettyville is a
beautiful book about the strange plenitude that comes from finally
letting go of everything."
--Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home "Bettyville is a beautifully
crafted memoir, rich with humor and wisdom. George Hodgman has
created an unforgettable book about mothers and sons, and about the
challenges that come with growing older and growing up."
--Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club "This is
a superior memoir, written in a witty and episodic style, yet at
times it's heartbreaking . . . filled with a lifetime's worth of
reflection and story after fascinating story."
--Library Journal (starred review) "Hodgman writes with wit and
empathy about all the loss he's confronted with. Betty's poor
health is mirrored by the fail-ure of towns like Paris, whose farms
and lumberyards are now Walmarts and meth labs. Coming out in the
age of AIDS, he lost the people he was close to when he had nowhere
else to turn. . . . That doesn't mean Bettyville is without
humor--far from it. Paris eccentrics (one woman shampoos her hair
in the soda fountain) com-pete with Hodgman's colleagues in the
office of Vanity Fair. . . . This is a portrait of a woman in
decline, but still very much alive and committed to getting the
lion's share of mini-Snickers at every op-portunity. When things
are left un-said between parents and children, it leaves a hurt
that can never be completely repaired, but love and dedication can
make those scarred places into works of art. Bettyville is one such
masterpiece."
--BookPage "The book is instantly engaging, as Hodgman has a wry
sense of humor, one he uses to keep others at a distance. Yet the
book is also devastatingly touching. Betty is one tough cookie, and
she is crumbling. Hodgman as a young man came out around the same
time AIDS did, complicating his already complicated feelings
immeasurably. There's a lot for Hodgman to handle, yet he does,
despite the urge to give in to his own sadness and his own former
drug addiction. A tender, resolute look at a place, literal and
figurative, baby boomers might find themselves."
--Booklist "Bettyville is a gorgeous memoir. I was completely
engaged, not just because of George Hodgman's great ear and his
sense of timing, but because he delivers Betty to us in such a
manner that she steps off the page . I felt transported to a better
place, to a time period and a web of relationships with which we
can all identify, no matter where we grew up. Beyond the humor and
the pathos, the quotidian and the bizarre, there remain profound
lessons about life and love that I will carry away."
--Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone "George Hodgman
achieves something stunning with this book--by paying such deep,
loving attention to his mother's (admittedly colorful) life, he
offers us the chance to pay close attention to our own strange and
beautiful Bettyvilles, which in the end is all we can ask of any
art. This bejeweled pillbox is rich and funny and heartwrenching
and might just you cure you of your ills; if those ills include
loneliness or feeling like you don't belong--you are not
alone."
--Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City "One of
the great benefits of reading memoir is that it offers the reader
more people to love. I love Betty, and I love George Hodgman, whose
beautiful book this is. Read Bettyville. Laugh, weep, and be
grateful."
--Abigail Thomas, author of A Three Dog Life "Bettyville reminded
me of some Homeric legend, complete with treacherous chimeras and
ravenous gorgons, except that it is told with such grace, wit, and
spirited generosity that you hardly sense you are on a fragile
bark, adrift on a perilous sea. This story of a sensitive
Midwestern boy coming to terms with his homosexuality, his drug
addiction, his clueless parents, his all-out war with shame, is
nothing short of epic. It begins as a simple trip home from
fast-track Manhattan to Paris, Missouri, to care for a failing
mother, but by the time we are through, we have descended to an
underworld, witnessed a plague, traveled all nine circles of hell,
and emerged exhilarated by the grit and valor of our remarkable
guide. It is, in every sense, a tale about the power of love."
--Marie Arana, author of American Chica "With great tenderness,
honesty, and a searing, sardonic humor, George Hodgman has written
a love letter to his mother, at once a penance and a tribute. In
doing so, he has given us Betty, a character for the ages. This is
a beautiful, illuminating book."
--Dani Shapiro, author of Devotion "When I read the first few pages
of Bettyville, I immediately connected. The detail is poetry and,
yes, George Hodgman tells a story that is all our stories if we
grow up different, struggling not to hurt those we treasure. But
what I will most remember is the human struggle of Betty--the woman
at the window, the woman at the piano, the woman whose desire to
help others represents the best of small-town America. The silence
she was taught and the complications of our parents' journeys to be
there for us, as best they could, is what I will take away from
Bettyville, where she will always reside. Hers is the quiet love
that outlasts the distances and lets us survive."
--Richard Blanco, United States inaugural poet, author of The
Prince of los Cucuyos: A Miami Childhood
Ask a Question About this Product More... |